Beacon Broadside: A Project of Beacon Presstag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-14005452010-07-30T08:00:00-04:00Ideas, opinions, and personal essays from respected writers, thinkers, and activists. A project of Beacon Press, an independent publisher of progressive ideas since 1854.TypePadLink Rounduptag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ed2b7aa88330133f2b14ad8970b2010-07-30T08:00:00-04:002011-09-30T08:58:28-04:00Take a look at this week's updates in our Link Roundup. Beacon Broadside

From excerpts to interviews, blog posts to online forums… Here are just a few updates from this week.

Gail Dines, author of Pornland, appeared on CNN News and in the Boston Globe this week, discussing "gonzo" pornography's grip on the young minds of an entire generation. Dines was also mentioned in a recent article on the website Independent Woman which discussed how porn addiction can ruin a marriage.

Dylan Edwards, who is at work on a graphic book about genderqueers and FTM transsexuals, had his picture snapped at Comic-Con and is part of this great roundup of LGBT comics folks at the Prism Comics blog.

How to Fill the College Education Gaptag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ed2b7aa88330133f2980172970b2010-07-27T11:21:33-04:002010-07-27T11:21:33-04:00Steve Wilson (The Boys from Little Mexico) argues for the DREAM Act not only in the interest of the undocumented migrants, but also for the good of our country as a whole. Beacon Broadside

As our representatives once again consider how to legislate immigration reform, one of their first priorities should be to reconsider one languishing immigration program--The DREAM Act.

The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, first introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R) in 2001, aims to create educational equality. The legislation, currently on everybody's backburner, would allow certain undocumented immigrants to receive conditional residency if they either attend a university or join the U.S. military. To qualify, immigrants would have to enter the U.S. at age 15 or younger, graduate from an American high school, and have good moral character.

In the past, the bill has been promoted as a palatable form of immigration reform. It only affects people who entered the country as minors, presumably brought into the U.S. by their parents. These kids form a rapidly growing group today; about 2.4 million undocumented people aged 24 and under live in the U.S. right now.

But promoting the DREAM Act as legislation that should be passed, as a means of addressing some unfairness that exists because the alien minor didn't choose to enter the country, is wrongheaded. Not only is this sales pitch politically ineffective to most conservative politicians--after all the DREAM Act has been around, going nowhere, for a decade--but it misses a more dire predicament the U.S. faces today: we're running out of college graduates. The DREAM Act is a simple way to get more.

According to a recent report released by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, "By 2018, [The United States] will need 22 million new workers with college degrees—but will fall short of that number by at least 3 million postsecondary degrees."

Here are some other numbers: Latino Americans are expected to make up more than 20 percent of the college-age population by 2020. Latinos already are our nation's largest minority group, and with white birthrates declining and the Latino population growing both through higher birthrates and immigration, the demographic future of America is simple. Latinos are going to be an increasing percentage of our population, and Anglos a shrinking percentage.

Since advanced degrees have traditionally been earned primarily by Anglos (71 percent of all 4-year degrees in 2007-2008), and since there are going to be fewer Anglos, then the U.S. needs to look for its additional college grads someplace else. The obvious place is our country's fastest-growing minority group, and that includes kids who grew up in America, even if their parents brought them here without permission.

Attempts to pass The Dream Act in the past have failed. Opponents say that the act is financially irresponsible and labeled it "Amnesty"--a dirty word nowadays. The assumption seems to be that if undocumented immigrant children are not given the chance to go to college, they will leave the country and go back "home." What is more likely, however, is that these under-educated young men and women will settle into unsatisfying jobs, start families, and increase the ranks of poverty. That doesn't help them or our country.

Recently, we've seen some undocumented young people risk their ability to stay in the U.S. by staging public protests about the DREAM Act in Arizona, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. These young men and women are politically active, bright, hard-working, and focused on long-term goals--the very people we need to run our country. By preventing this group of young men and women from going to college, we are ultimately not punishing them so much as we are punishing ourselves. Let's take the long-term view and revisit this practical piece of immigration reform legislation. Pass the DREAM Act and help fill our college education gap.

Link Roundup: Independence and Freedom for Alltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ed2b7aa88330134852323f5970c2010-07-02T08:00:00-04:002011-03-07T14:05:14-05:00Link Roundup: Take a look at how our authors have been celebrating and promoting their freedom this week. Beacon Broadside

Independence Day reminds us not only of our rights as Americans, but also of our rights as human beings on a global scale. This week, our authors have been using their freedom of speech to promote further rights in fields such as education, religion, and LGBT law. Take a look at what they have been up to.

In Steve Wilson's book, The Boys from Little Mexico, one all-Hispanic boys' soccer team surpasses ethnic boundaries and personal struggles to win the Oregon state championship. Recently quoted in Newsweek, Wilson praises the Mexican-American players in the World Cup and their drive for success. The Oregon newspaper, the Woodburn Independent, ran a review for Wilson's book, praising it for taking the local story to a national level.

In his book From the Closet to the Courtroom, Carlos Ball discusses in rich detail five lawsuits that have affected LGBT rights for Americans. In a poignant article for the Huffington Post, Ball poses the question "Is it time for gay federal judges?" Diversity Inc. posted a short interview with the author and the Advocate.com recently ran an excerpt from the book on the topic of high school harassment. An outstanding review of the book was recently posted on Lambda Literary stating "[Ball] appeals to the hearts of his readers by fleshing out the human players in each chapter without sacrificing scholarship."

Harassment often led to violence for our next author, Geoffrey Canada, whose memoir Fist Stick Knife Gun recounts the dangers of growing up in the South Bronx. Waiting for Superman—a new documentary on America's failing education system featuring Canada—was mentioned in Entertainment Weekly. As buzz for the film begins to grow, Geoffrey Canada speaks in a brief interview about his personal feelings towards his childhood when his ideal image of Superman was rocked by the harsh realities of life.

Education is failing in both American schools and juvenile penitentiary systems according to David Chura, author of I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine. Listen to an interview with Chura on KPFA's Flashpoints(starting 43 minutes into the program) discussing the realities of juvenile incarceration. Listen to another interview with Chura on WMUA Writer's Voice where he describes how the war on crime is synonymous with the war on kids.

Finally, in celebration of UUA's General Assembly in Minneapolis, Beacon authors John Buehrens and Rebecca Ann Parker appeared on the radio program State of Belief to discuss their views on social activism and religion. In their book, A House for Hope, the authors describe a shared momentum among religious progressives and the impact they have on the 21st century. Eboo Patel, author of Acts of Faith, also appeared on the show, discussing his interactions with the Dalai Lama in strengthening Buddhist-Muslim ideals.

It's a big week for us here at Beacon Press. While Cambridge celebrated their "Go Green" awards, Boston has been displaying its LGBT pride all week. Across the globe, nations are being unified by a common love for soccer with the World Cup. Our authors are also getting involved and getting their universal messages out there to the public. Here are a few of their latest updates and achievements:

Carlos Ball's new book, From the Closet to the Courtroom, chronicles five ground-breaking LGBT lawsuits that ultimately defined history. In this month's newsletter from the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York, Ball's book received the following praise: "This should become a basic text for college LGBT studies courses and can be read with profit by all students of LGBT law, but it is also aimed at a more general audience and is recommendable to non-specialists as well."

The World Cup has officially begun. Symbolizing the drive, determination, and love for soccer, The Boys from Little Mexico, by Steve Wilson, delves deep into the lives of an all-Hispanic boys' soccer team who, despite cultural differences, language barriers, and academic struggles, won the Oregon state championship. In an interview with Dropping Timber, a soccer blog for the Portland Timbers, Wilson stated, "My hope with the book… is that it humanizes people." OregonLive.com also featured an article on Wilson, focusing on the care he took for the privacy of the students featured in his book.

The more negative side of youth sports represented by the strive for academic scholarships, the pressures of overbearing parents, and the injuries inflicted on overworked children, is the subject of Mark Hyman's book Until It Hurts. In a recently published article in Sports Illustrated, Hyman documents the efforts of Dr. James R. Andrews and his celebrity-athlete endorsed prevention program STOP (Sports Trauma and Overuse Prevention).

A thorough examination of the overpopulation myth, Fred Pearce's book, The Coming Population Crash, discusses lower average birthrates across the globe, the growing epidemic of world hunger, and the first upcoming population decrease that this world has seen since the Black Death. Pearce's book was recently discussed on amnews.com.

From overpopulation to income inequality, Chuck Collins, coauthor of Wealth and our Commonwealth, describes personal wealth as being not only achieved through personal decisions and hard work, but also through the opportunities for success inherent in our society. Collins was quoted in an article for The New York Timeson estate taxes and the legacies of the opulent.

There are a million questions that run through the minds of liberal consumers. How will our purchasing powers affect the economy or the environment? Who frantically toiled in a foreign country to make this coat and what were their wages? Fran Hawthorne, author of The Overloaded Liberal, tackles investing your money into the perpetuation of liberal ideals. In a recent article for The Jew and the Carrot, Hawthorne describes kosher living through the humane methods of animal slaughter and the inhuman wages paid to workers behind the scenes.

In the vein of liberal-minded consumers, we here at Beacon Press would like to congratulate the Harvard Book Store for winning the Cambridge "Go Green Award" for transportation. The store's Green Delivery Service boasts a quick and inexpensive method of using emissions-free vehicles to deliver book orders to readers across the Boston area. Harvard Book Store's actions not only promote eco-friendly methods of delivery, but also support local businesses.

The Beautiful Gametag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ed2b7aa88330133f08de285970b2010-06-10T12:25:28-04:002010-06-10T12:39:40-04:00Beacon staff looks forward to the World Cup. Beacon Broadside

Today's blog post is from Sara Hatch. Sara is the sales assistant and resident soccer enthusiast here at Beacon Press. She has been watching the World Cup since 2002 and will be supporting the U.S., England, the Netherlands, and Côte d'Ivoire.

Tomorrow the world will explode. Don't worry; it's not the onset of nuclear war. It's the World Cup, the glorious tourney that occurs every four years and pits nation against nation, creating stories that will last for decades in each nation's history. Games will be won and games will be lost. We will see both spectacular dives and goals that make your heart sing.

Here at Beacon, we have taken a personal interest in the sport, with Steve Wilson's book, The Boys from Little Mexico. Published this month, Wilson tells the story of an all-Hispanic boys' high school soccer team in Woodburn, Oregon, documenting their lives on and off the field. It is an inspiring story of a small-town team transcending racial boundaries and proving the transformative power of sports. For further evidence of the unifying power of sports, one needs to look no further than Côte d'Ivoire, the small West African country and former colony of France.

For most of the past decade, Côte d'Ivoire was torn in two by civil war. Rebel forces camped out in the north while the government remained prominent in the south. As Steve Bloomfield relates in his fascinating new book, Africa United, the civil war was mostly a cold war. But despite many attempts to re-assemble the country, including a peace agreement in 2003, the country remained split between the rebel north and government south.

While civil war continued to rage in 2006, the national team, Les Eléphants, made it to the World Cup in Germany. Though the team did not make it out of the first round (having been pitted against football powerhouses Argentina and Holland), the national pride that was felt across Côte d'Ivoire led to some of the first steps toward a permanent peace.

One year later, as Bloomfield relates, a fragile peace deal was signed. English Premiere League player Didier Drogba, just named African Player of the Year, brought his trophy home and traveled to the northern city of Bouaké, a place he had not been since the civil war had begun. There he declared that the next match, a World Cup qualifier, would be played not in the de facto southern capital of Abidjan, but in Bouaké, the home of the rebel forces. Not long after Drogba's announcement, the country began to re-assemble into the united government that we see today.

Whenever I hear or read stories on the peace deals surrounding this national team's success (such as one in the 2006 The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup), I feel true hope for the world and I remember how I fell in love with this beautiful game.

For Africa, 2010 is a chance to show the world that, although the problems of the past are not over, the true and beautiful spirit of Africa still exists and can be seen on football pitches across the country. No language or religion unites Africa, but football crosses those boundaries. When the opening game between South Africa and Mexico begins on June 11th, Nelson Mandela, the man who symbolizes peace in Africa, will be in the stands watching his country celebrate.

What to read during the World Cup: A host of books and blogs have sprung up around the World Cup. Many make for excellent reading for those who seek more than just what's on the pitch.

The Boys from Little Mexico, Steve WilsonOne gutsy team plays the soccer with heart, pride, and their lives on the line, in an extraordinary cross between Friday Night Lights and Enrique's Journey.

Africa United, Steve BloomfieldThis beautiful, stirring compilation of stories about Africa is told through the unifying sport of soccer.

How Soccer Explains the World, Franklin Foer You may think soccer is just a game, but as Foer's brilliant book explains, it's so much more. Foer is also editor at The New Republic and lead contributor on their Goal Post blog.

The New Republic's Goal PostThis blog returns for its second World Cup, featuring amazing writers and a host of global soccer experts that tackle everything from who will win, to the weird sleeping habits of Lionel Messi.

World CupThis blog features up to the minute news and thoughtful pieces for those new to the game and old pros.

The London TimesThe World Cup section of the Times is covered by some of the same journalistic voices that follow the best teams in the world year-round in a nation where football is a way of life.

Marca.comFollow your team in style with this beautiful, interactive calendar.

The Spanglish of Los Sunstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e54ed2b7aa8833013480d2c3a7970c2010-05-17T07:15:00-04:002010-05-14T16:42:14-04:00It's been an interesting basketball season. What did those Los Suns jerseys really say?Beacon Broadside

On May 5, the Phoenix Suns wore jerseys with a Spanish word on them and everybody got excited because the team was making a political statement, as seen here, and here, and here, and even here.

But wait, didn't those jerseys exist because of an NBA marketing scheme called Noche Latina? Didn't the Suns wear them on March 21 and 26? Yes and yes.

Noche Latina, which this year lasted a couple of semanas, is an outreach program to Hispanic fans, and features Spanglish uniforms (more on that later) and other Latino-themed entertainment, as well as basketball analysts breaking out their high school Spanish phrasebooks. It was a token gesture to the 15% of NBA fans who have Hispanic heritage, and nobody took it seriously.

Which is why the Suns' decision to use the uniforms a second time, in protest of Arizona's new immigration enforcement law, is even more interesting than most columnists have given it credit for. The uniforms were a marketing gimmick—in fact, the NBA didn't even fully translate the team names. Los Suns? That's about as Hispanic as Taco Bell.

The fact that the team names were left in a weird Spanglish version—a version that would still be recognizable to the English-speaking majority of NBA fans—tells me that the league wanted to reach out to their Latino viewers with as little effort as possible. It was the equivalent of putting a stripe down the side of a car and calling it a performance package.

The Los Suns uniforms meant nothing. Back in March they had no power. They were cute. But those same uniforms worn in protest on May 5 meant something because there were no mariachi bands, no joking on TNT and ESPN about bad accents, and no Chihuahua-themed t-shirts shot into the stands. On May 5, the Los Suns shirts meant something because the team made the decision to wear the shirts by themselves, rather than doing it as part of a league mandate.

However, as powerful a statement as the Los Suns shirts were in the playoffs, the subtext of the shirts—the half English and half Spanish team names of the Suns and the other teams that participated in Noche Latina—unknowingly says volumes about our country today. Without even meaning to, the Noche Latina uniforms captured the essence of Hispanic-American assimilation, and went unnoticed because we are all so used to it. We're used to seeing Spanglish. We're used to half-assed efforts by teams to get more Latino viewers. We are so used to these things that we have internalized them.

Anti-immigrant protesters complain that Latinos are not assimilating into mainstream (i.e., white) American culture. And yet all around us, every day, we see evidence to the contrary. Hispanic players are in the NBA, MLB, and NFL. Hispanic performers are on TV shows, movies, and singing on our iPods. Hispanic governors run our states. Taco carts have replaced Chinese noodle shops as the most common ethnic restaurants in America.

What the NBA has taught us, not through the Los Suns protest, but through our unconscious acceptance of the Noche Latina shirts, is that the U.S. is not waiting for Hispanic assimilation to happen at some point in the future. It's already here. We just get so excited about seeing a sports team stand for something that we forget that all of us already speak Spanglish.